Diane+Main+eGame+Captivate


 * =Windows Movie Maker Tutorial Game (Captivate)=

Diane Main, dianemain@gmail.com || || To try out the draft version of the first segment of this tutorial, click the following link to download the file: //(This is a SWF file, which requires Flash Player to run. Flash Player is a free download from Adobe and runs within your browser. You may need to specify that your browser is the program you want to use to open the file.)//
 * @http://files.me.com/dianemain/lultln**

Overview
**Your teacher has required you to present your photography using Windows Movie Maker. . . but you've never used it before! You've heard from last year's students that this project was hard and that they ran into some problems with it. But you've heard from other students that they had a great time and did really well with the project. What you really need is some step-by-step help for tackling this new program at your own pace, but still in time to get the project done. Good thing your teacher made a tutorial game!** ====This tutorial game, made in Adobe Captivate 4, teaches users how to carry out several steps in Windows Movie Maker as part of a project for technology class. Users will need to know some basic operating system tasks, such as creating folders, using menus, naming files, and navigating through a file system. They will also need to have at least looked at Windows Movie Maker (or at screen shots of the program) before using the tutorial game so that they are familiar with they layout of the interface.==== ====The software they are learning to use inspires creativity and fun (especially since they will be importing their own photography for the project), but there is another aspect, made possible by Captivate, that increases this game's appeal. At stages along the tutorial, users will repeat the steps to score points and answer quiz-like questions to score more points. There will also be motivational on-screen comments for correctly completed tasks as well as encouraging reminders in response to incorrect attempts.====

They will learn:
====All of these tasks are carried out in Windows Movie Maker, though the very first and last parts also include the Windows XP operating system for creating a folder, saving files, and copying files from one drive to another. Students will also use a web browser, such as Mozilla Firefox, to preview and obtain music from the freeplaymusic.com website to use in their movies.====
 * ====**how to set up their files:** doing this correctly at the start of the project insures that contents of the movie do not disappear at some point along the process====
 * ====**how to import photos, audio, and video into Movie Maker:** these items needs to be kept in the same folder as the MSWMM file itself to avoid problems after importing them====
 * ====**how to add in titles and transitions:** creating these items can take several forms, and placing them in the timeline of the movie requires some patience and practice====
 * ====**how to create credits at the end of the movie:** these are a necessary part of the movie and are often left out; they also need to be timed so that they are readable by the viewer of the finished product====
 * **how to export the movie file and copy it to a USB drive:** at the end of the project, each student must create a WMV file which compiles all the elements they have put together; it also needs to be on a USB thumb drive to be handed in for grading

** Learners **
====This tutorial game is designed for use by students in grades seven and eight (mostly ages 12 to 14). There is a chance that younger students may use it in the future as well. Some of them have already used Windows Movie Maker, whether for a similar project in the previous year or for their own enjoyment at home. The photography they are incorporating is their own work, and they are also highly motivated by the chance to select music they like for accompanying their work. These students attend a private Christian school in San Jose. For the most part, they own their own digital cameras or can use ones provided by their parents. All but a tiny percentage of the students have computers with Internet in their homes, and many of them also have their own computers at home that only they use. Most of the users are very experienced with technology applications. Almost half have their own Facebook accounts and about a third have YouTube accounts.====

Context of Use
====The tutorial game is intended to be used at school, in the computer lab in which the students will create their projects using Windows Movie Maker after completing the tutorial. However, the added appeal of this simulation is that it opens up opportunities for e-learning that could take place at home, whether for students on home instruction due to illness or for students who need more time to work on their projects than they have in the computer lab.==== ====This year, when this project was assigned for the first time, many students had trouble with imported content disappearing due to poor file management. In addition, many students helped one another learn the stages of the software, but others were hesitant to ask their peers or the teacher and left some required elements of the project undone or done poorly. This tutorial game gives users the chance to learn at their own pace, try and re-try things, and be more independent. It also insures that all students in all sections of the class receive the same instruction and information in the same way. Students who have questions will feel more confident in the basics of Windows Movie Maker and therefore may be more inclined to ask questions that are more "involved" than just "how do I do this?" As a result, more class time can be devoted to analyzing their choices for the various elements of photography that are required in their movies.====

Motivational Issues
====The project this tutorial game helps the students complete is for a grade, so there are clear external motivators, such as the grade, parental and teacher approval, and peer support and approval. Most of the applications students use in their technology classes are productivity tools. Windows Movie Maker, the program being taught in the tutorial game, is both a productivity tool and a creative multimedia application. Students enjoy learning to use it because they can make their own creative products later using the same skills acquired for the project. Many students at the middle school level are already using such applications or their web-based equivalents, such as Animoto, Glogster, and Tumblr. But, hopefully, students aren't just appreciating the extrinsic motivation provided by this assignment.====

====Instead of completing the various facets of this project to achieve a grade or to avoid poor grades or some punishment, the primary goal of the project is to provide rewarding opportunities for self-expression. And the nature of the photography requirements of the project dictates that students will try new things and learn new ways to take the photographs which will be used in their projects. But how does that impact the tutorial game?====

====The tutorial game allows the user to proceed at his or her own pace, trying and re-trying steps as necessary until attaining mastery. This will lead to both a better product for the project assignment and learning that is both satisfying and lasting. Malone and Lepper (1983?) describe intrinsic motivators in two categories: individual (challenge, fantasy, curiosity, and control), and interpersonal (cooperation, competition, and recognition). This tutorial game addresses several of these key learner needs.====

====For many of the users, Windows Movie Maker is a new software or one they have only used once before, for a similar project in the previous school year. There are many different kinds of tasks, and the order in which one performs them, as well as the manner in which one organizes one's resources, can have a major impact on the user's success. So the subject matter itself is **challenging**. By adding the game-like quality of trying to achieve points by answering questions or completing tasks both correctly and quickly, the **challenge** is stepped up. This leads to another important factor.==== ====Students can **compete** against their own best scores, and they can informally **compete** with their peers if desired. Students can be encouraged to share their scores, or a "leader board" can be used to display the top five or ten scores. Or classes can post scores to **compete** against other class periods. This is also a chance to achieve **recognition** for one's accomplishments, both with peers and adults. The tutorial is not primarily intended to be **competitive**, but some students enjoy that aspect. It is actually intended to augment the **cooperative** trend already in place in the classroom.==== ====Though each student is responsible for his or her own end product with Windows Movie Maker, students are encouraged to help one another with any tasks along the way. This tutorial game enables students who might not ordinarily feel confident helping their peers to increase their own capability and become more likely to offer assistance. All the students are less likely to need assistance with the more mechanical tasks covered by the Windows Movie Maker tutorials and can then have more time to discuss the more creative aspects of the project with peers. (The last time this project was done -- without Captivate tutorials -- many students reported asking friends to help them in choosing subjects for photographs and selecting examples for each required photography element.) Students who may struggle with a portion of a tutorial can ask peers for guidance if they have tried unsuccessfully on their own.==== ====Finally, this tutorial game gives the students greater **control** over their own learning. As mentioned before, Windows Movie Maker has several different elements, and a student may not be ready to move forward to a more challenging step until he or she first gains greater confidence with earlier steps. The tutorial game may be played over and over, as many times as the student desires, until mastery and confidence is attained. The interactivity of the tutorial affords **control** to the user as well.====

In looking to Keller's **ARCS** model regarding motivation, one hopes that the multimedia content will catch and maintain the students' **Attention**. The immediate **Relevance** of this tutorial is its ability to assist students through the trickiest parts of a project they have to do, and really do enjoy, but with which they frequently have trouble with particular aspects. Each of the known trouble spots is a segment of the entire tutorial program. The entire purpose of the tutorial is to increase students' **Confidence** in their ability to use Windows Movie Maker, both for this project and for future projects or leisure activities. Finally, overcoming the typical obstacles encountered with Windows Movie Maker, and completing a finished product, will give students **Satisfaction** that they aren't just "doing a project," but rather "creating a masterpiece," based mostly on their own creative work.

Design Process
====As soon as Bernie and Karl offered the option of working alone on a Captivate tutorial, I knew that was the right fit for me on this project. I had just finished up a Windows Movie Maker project with my seventh and eighth grade students, and many of them struggled needlessly with many elements of using the software. They work more independently at this level in my classes, and many students are hesitant to ask for help, even though I constantly remind them to see me if they get stuck. They are more inclined to ask peers (which is okay with me, but often leads a whole area of the lab to do something incorrectly -- the blind leading the blind, as it were) or try to figure things out on their own. I do encourage them to explore and try things on their own first, but many of them don't yet have the self-confidence to do that effectively.==== ====I knew there were specific procedures that could be taught very effectively using Captivate, plus I wanted to learn how to use Captivate to determine if it would be a worthwhile investment for my school to purchase it for me. I discussed this with Karl and he thought it could work well. I downloaded the trial of Captivate on a PC in my lab at work, and I spent some time going through the tutorials and imagining how it would look with my intended subject matter. I have already started recording the steps of a first major task for the project I do with my seventh and eighth graders, but that is about as far as I have gotten.==== ====One thing I am currently playing with is automatic panning. The first task I want my users to learn via the tutorial involves both the Windows operating system and Windows Movie Maker, so I need to capture the entire screen, nit just one application window. I recorded two versions in full-screen mode (because I learned some tricks in the first recording that I used to improve the second recording), and then I realized that the tutorial needed to fit in a smaller area. It took me a while to figure out how to get "Automatic Panning" to show up as a recording option (including some Twitter messages back and forth with RJ Jacquez of Adobe), and then I recorded a preliminary "third attempt." That is where I have had to leave it since Thursday since I have not been back to work since then. (Plumbing issues at home kept me sidelined Friday.)==== ====In a case of perfect timing, not only did I just complete the Windows Movie Maker project with my seventh and eighth graders, I also surveyed them (using THIS GOOGLE FORM) to get some feedback on how various aspects of the project went for them. I found out that they relied heavily on peer interaction throughout the project, and they reported enjoying that aspect. So I want to make sure that figures in to my tutorial game somehow. I also know which tasks to create tutorials for based on what students either reported they struggled with or did incorrectly (or not at all) in their finished products. Some other details emerged as I graded their projects. For example, I found myself telling students (in their evaluations) that when they pick colors for titles within a movie, they should choose a color theme and font and stick with it. Something I assumed they would transfer from our work with PowerPoint is actually something I need to concretely build in to the tutorial for creating titles. I could have some quiz questions in the tutorial to address such details, I think.==== ====Since I am creating a full tutorial/game, I can't comment on the "fleshed-out playable prototype," because I don't know that I will be stopping at a prototype. I intend to create a full version for at least some of the tasks and then test its playability with some students before completing the remaining tutorial segments.====